OSR: WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Review

OSR: WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Review

With the Royal Rumble 2017 rapidly upon us, the latest edition of the Royal Rumble OSR goes back to the events of 2016. The Authority were technically still in control in the WWE, but on a mission to bring down the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns following his brutal attack on Triple H at TLC 2015. Back at the time, WDD brought you the live updates for the show. Now, one year on we bring you the Royal Rumble 2016 Review. Will it fair better without the tiredness crept in? Let’s find out with the Royal Rumble 2016 Review…

The show quickly opens with Vince and Stephanie McMahon arriving at the arena, going on about the downfall of Roman Reigns. The opening promo is depicted around a Roman Gladiator. It then looks at the challenge being mounted against Roman Reigns, before we quickly head inside the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida for the event itself for the first match…

The match quickly gets underway, with Michael Cole soon in the firing line after Owens is launched into him. Owens is pretty much the dominant force over Ambrose in the opening minutes of the match, despite some offensive tactics from Ambrose.

The match soon becomes back and forth with both men trading near finishes back and forth. As Owens goes for a finishing aerial attack, he is shoved through two tables to allow Ambrose the win in a great opening match with a slightly disappointing and weak finish.

With The New Day coming to the ring first, we are soon introduced to Francesca 2 and Booty Shaking in an amusing skit. The match itself is average, but nothing more. There is nothing which makes it stand out in memory, ultimately leading to Big E picking up the win.

Winners: The New Day, to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship

Match Rating: 1.5 out of 5.0 Stars

3. WWE United States Championship: Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Kalisto

A couple of video clips are shown, looking at how this match came together. Throughout the match, Del Rio is pretty much the dominant force with some offence from Kalisto. Ultimately, Kalisto is able to pick up a surprise win in a pretty nice and solid match.

A pretty cool promo is shown, before both women make their way to the ring. The match is initially very back and forth, with Ric Flair getting involved and shoving his tongue down Becky’s throat. This allows Charlotte to gain the momentum, and become quite dominant.

This remains pretty much the case for the remainder of the match, with Charlotte picking up the win. This match is a love or hate it – this editor hated it. Afterwards, Sasha Banks comes to the ring and takes out both Becky and Charlotte.

Winner: Charlotte, to retain the WWE Diva’s Championship

Match Rating: 1.0 out of 5.0 Stars

5. WWE World Heavyweight Championship – 30 Man Royal Rumble Match

There is a nice Royal Rumble promo shown for the match, which is very much recycled from previous years. Unfortunately though, it is to centralized around the ongoing dramas between Roman Reigns and The McMahon’s/Triple H.

The first two entrants into the match are Roman Reigns and Rusev, the later of which is quickly eliminated. At Number 3, AJ Styles makes his WWE Debut and becomes embroiled in the match with Roman Reigns.

As the match continues, The League of Nations appear and takes out Roman Reigns leading to him being taken out of the arena by medics. Soon enough, The Big Show enters the match clearing down the superstars as AJ Styles is eliminated after a 28-minute impressive showing.

Predictably, Brock Lesnar enters and does a complete abomination of those in the ring, as The Miz enters and decides to join commentary instead. This leads to Brock being eliminated by The Wyatt Family. Roman Reigns then makes his way into the match.

Entering at Number 30, Triple H makes his return before entering a painfully long showdown with Roman Reigns. Referring to the events of Night of Champions, Dean Ambrose eliminates Chris Jericho after a 51-minute performance.

The final four competitors in the match are Sheamus, Triple H, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Sheamus is soon eliminated, followed by Roman to a tremendous reaction. Soon enough, Triple H eliminates Dean Ambrose in a weak finish to become the champion in an average Rumble match.

The under card on this event was certainly interesting. On paper it was quite promising, and in some respects did deliver. The match between Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose, don’t get me wrong was very good but the finish could have being slightly better. The match was strong, but the finish was very weak and didn’t do any favors for Kevin Owens but also Dean Ambrose in some respects. The match for the WWE United States Championship, was much better than anticipated. Kalisto really exploited the character in Del Rio’s ring style and they were able to have a very solid match. Unfortunately, the tag team match was a complete washout and completely forgettable. Plus, the ladies match was not enjoyable to watch. It actually came across as quite boring and the actions of Ric Flair left a lot to be desired.

The Royal Rumble match itself was initially promising, but the overkill of Roman Reigns and The McMahon’s drained the enthusiasm from the match. The moment Roman was taken out of the match near the beginning made it predictable what was going to happen. There were some cracking and solid performances nonetheless from Chris Jericho and AJ Styles, the later of which excelled in his WWE Debut. Unfortunately, making Triple H the champion was the easy option though for the WWE and showed a lack of imagination in the finish of the match.

But nonetheless, the debut of AJ Styles made this match worth watching, and ultimately gives the recommendation to watch the event. To see where he started and the point he is at now is incredible to see.

What do you think of the WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Review? We’d love to know what you think!